Latest / Pop of Culture / S03 E12 - We're on the Floor

Transcript

S03 E12 - We're on the Floor · Pop of Culture

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Support for pop of culture comes from Stallings Wealth Management.
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Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.
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This week on pop culture, we dive into the archives.
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I was very honored and I take it seriously.
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I've known these people for most of my life, and,
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you know, it's like it's a community, you know?
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It really is.
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We'll take a walk through last year's Indiana Artisan Marketplace.
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We'll join a practice with the Ball State Studio Band
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and hear an essay on life perspective in this week's Beautiful Thing.
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That's all coming up in this encore edition of Pop of Culture.
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Support for Pop of Culture
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comes from Stallings Wealth Management and from you.
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With state and federal money eliminated, you are the difference
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in keeping local programing on the air at IPR.
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Become a member today at Indiana Public
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radio.org.
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From IPR this is pop of culture.
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I'm Kara DuQuette. and I'm Michele Kinsey.
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Our team is a little tired after being live on air last week,
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so we'll be pulling some interviews from the pop archives
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As we speak, many artisans from all across the Hoosier State are gathered
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at the state fairgrounds for this year's Indiana Artisan Marketplace.
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They're ready to showcase and sell their work all this weekend.
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So we thought we would step back to our walk through of last year's event,
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and the artisans we spoke with
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As we made our way into the marketplace,
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we found some familiar voices, like artist Carol Burt.
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Carol, good to see you out here.
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Good to see you, too.
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So the booth is very busy.
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Can you describe the atmosphere right now?
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Yeah, actually, the doors open up and.
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It's dead for a while.
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And then suddenly.
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People have walked through and they've decided to come back.
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And so it's been packed.
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It is packed.
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I mean, there's barely room to move in your area.
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What does it mean to you to be an Indiana artisan, Carol?
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Well, it's a wonderful brand to be a part of.
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And the show here is one of the best venues that I do.
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So it means a lot to me to be able to continue to make art and sell it.
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It's wonderful.
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Describe the things you have at your booth today.
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Well, I have a lot of functional work.
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I have plates and bowls.
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I have a lot of sculptural work.
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And that's been great.
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Those have gone really fast.
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(Oh, wow.) I have canisters and miniatures.
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What do you hope to get out of participation in the marketplace today?
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Actually, some rest. Yeah.
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I've been so busy putting this all together,
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and I spend a lot of time, you know, planning out the
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the layout and I think I'm just exhausted right now.
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So. So today, you just to get to enjoy meeting people.
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And seeing all customers.
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And meeting new customers.
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We also found silk artist Carrie Wright,
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who we spoke with almost a year ago, in season 1.
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So can we ask you a couple questions?
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You can. I lost my voice yesterday. You did a little bit.
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Carrie has been an Indiana artisan since 2008.
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And so talk to me.
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Describe for the listeners if you will.
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What you have at your booth today?
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Most of my.
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Booth consists of hand-painted silk art, framed, ready for the wall.
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I do have.
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Some wearables as well, because people love
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great hand-painted silk wearables at an art show especially.
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So mostly, though, it's framed art.
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What do you love most about, participating in the marketplace?
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My very favorite thing
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about the marketplace is getting to meet the customer face to face.
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So much of what we do as artists is done alone in a room.
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It's very solitary.
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And so even if people are not buying your art, it is very rewarding
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to get the feedback and just to get face to face with people. Yes.
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And I think because I know I do it so I know other people have to do it
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and you're probably seeing it, people that haven't seen this type of work.
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It's there is that there is a look on the face
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there is the eyes widen and the oh, you even get audible
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sounds of, oh my gosh, this is something I've never seen before.
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That's exactly right. Yeah.
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Which has been amazing to what I feel that as an artist It's amazing.
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And also it's nice and refreshing and sometimes.
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Enlightening to get
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just the general public's reaction to encountering the art.
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Yes, it can be very informative in good and bad ways.
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Yeah.
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And about then we were ready for a snack.
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Hi. Hi.
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So funny.
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Oh, here's my - you’re going to put some candy right in my hand, aren’t you?
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Heck, yeah.
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The man handing us candy was Jay Noel.
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He and his wife own Abbott Candies in Hagerstown and Indianapolis.
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And you have been in existence. How long?
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Since 1890.
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1890.
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The oldest candy company.
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In the state of Indiana. That's pretty. Cool.
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And and also our building that we're manufacturing candy in was actually built.
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In. 1852.
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So there's a lot of history to the building that we're in,
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plus the candy business.
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And I'm sure some people listening right now may be like, wait a minute, candy.
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As an Indiana artisan, that's interesting.
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But Indiana Artisan has always included
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those who do food, candy, beverages, all of those.
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Why do you think that's important?
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To include those that are doing things outside
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what people may consider art. Art.
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Because if you're.
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Looking for gifts, if you're looking for yourself,
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if you're looking for anything, you're always looking for the best quality.
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You're also looking for the best value.
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And as soon as I walked up you handed me this tasty little nugget.
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Is this a.
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That's a sample of our caramel.
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Oh yes. Plain.
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Listen, this is probably totally inappropriate of me to go ahead
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and pop that caramel in my mouth, but I couldn't help it.
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And I'm talking with my mouth full.
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That's fine. But it is. We approve of that.
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Yeah, we're going to have to.
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We're gonna have to end it here because I'm going to need to stop and savor this.
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After sufficient savoring, we spoke to Lathay Pegues,
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owner of John Tom’s Barbecue.
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We started, in 2006.
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In a kitchen in Muncie.
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Yeah.
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Well, I tell you, it goes further back than that.
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I actually started trying to recreate my grandfather's
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sauce in 1998, I believe it was.
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And then that went on for, like, almost five years.
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Yeah.
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And I created this sauce.
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What people know as John Tom’s Original. Yes.
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It's not my grandfather's.
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I never duplicated his.
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But this is what I came up with, with his inspiration.
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As close as possible.
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And since then, you've branched out.
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So describe what it looks like, what it feels like.
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What happens in agriculture building at the Indiana State Fairgrounds
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during Indiana artisan.
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Oh my goodness.
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First of all, it the crowd, the crowd will start building.
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I mean, it gets to a point in here where like, we can't even take a bathroom break
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because our booth is so just we're just inundated with people.
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(Going to the bathroom.)
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So she's he's able to get a
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bathroom break right now, but here we get a point where we can't get away.
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And then, you know, this population of people,
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they appreciate the arts.
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I mean, we've created something with our own hands.
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So it's, you know,
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you're not walking into a big box store and picking up this stuff.
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Yeah.
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One thing that stood out
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at the Indiana Artisan Marketplace is the variety of arts on display.
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Like previous pop of culture guest rug hooker Tracy Burns.
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How does it feel to be at the Indiana Artisan Marketplace today?
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Well, it's a little overwhelming. This is my first time here.
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Congratulations.
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I've been, Indiana Artisn for 20, well, since 2020.
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Yeah.
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So, but this is the first time
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I've actually had a chance to actually be here as a business. Wow.
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So tell me how it feels like when the doors opened this morning.
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What were you feeling?
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Well, it's taken me a long time to get enough.
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Pieces even set up. So, so. So it's a little overwhelming.
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Okay. Did I make enough?
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Did I not make enough?
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I make I sell anything, okay? If I sell anything, I’ve got to make more.
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So, I mean, that’s a good problem to have.
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but I'm an artist, right?
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You know, I gotta make more.
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Yeah, exactly, exactly.
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So what are you hoping to get out
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of your first Indiana Artisan Market marketplace experience today?
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Well, I teach classes, so, you know, some people.
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Look at it like, I can't really afford that, but they.
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Might well learn how to do it themselves.
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Oh, I love that.
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So you want to share, you know, how you do
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all of this, how you create all this beautiful art with others.
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You want them to do it.
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Greg Adams makes art from pussy willows.
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So where do you get your materials?
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Well, Dumpster diver.
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(Nice) My wife says I can't do it anymore, but she doesn't always know.
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But sometimes, you know And now it's going to.
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Be on the radio. Yeah.
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There you go.
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Just make sure she doesn't listen to this one episode.
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You really.
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It gives you that adrenaline rush to get back. Okay?
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Yes, absolutely.
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Why do you like to be at this marketplace?
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Because the other.
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Well, this was a group of people who were chosen specifically.
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For their craft and their art.
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And it's quite a honor, you know.
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Absolutely.
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So, you know, I was very honored and I take it seriously.
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Known these people and most of my life from doing shows and things.
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Yeah. It's a, it's a community. You know.
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It really is.
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The first show they had here was 13 years ago.
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(Wow.) And I was fortunate enough to win best of show that year.
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The first year out?
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I cried.
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Well. Oh, good. I love that.
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I love that.
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But being an Indian artisan meant something different to each artist
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we spoke to.
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But there was one word they all used to describe the feeling here.
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Community.
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Michelle, it sounds like you had a great time
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speaking with all the artisans at last year's Indiana Artisan Marketplace.
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You know, I did, Kara.
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There were so many people representing this area.
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It was wonderful to see.
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This year's event is this weekend at the State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
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I'm Michelle Kinsey, and I'm Kara Duquette.
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You're listening to Pop of Culture.
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The Ball State studio band is busier than ever with their lineup of spring shows.
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So we thought we would look back at when we joined
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in on one of their practices in season two.
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(singing) “...
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it’s love ....
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it’s love...”
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You're hearing the Ball State University studio band.
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And joining me is Cassius Goens.
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He is the director of the studio band here at Ball State,
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and he is also associate lecturer of music specializing in jazz percussion.
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Right. Absolutely.
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So tell me a little bit about the studio jazz band.
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Okay, so the studio band, it was started
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2017, 2018 by my colleague Christoph Thompson.
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Doctor Thompson, who is the head of our music, media
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and production program here at Ball State.
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And it was a much smaller outfit than what we have now.
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It was more like a combo setting.
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So 5 to 6 students.
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And they performed out in, Muncie
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and surrounding areas as well.
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But only like a few times a semester or a year.
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It's grown a lot since then.
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Our program has grown.
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So to keep up with our program and the demands of the students.
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So as a studio band.
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Yeah, I mean, there's definitely been a glow up the studio band
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because it seems like I'm seeing the names show up
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all over the place on social media.
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Performances at the Jazz Kitchen,
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performances in town, at Be Here Now, private events, fundraisers, galas.
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I mean, it's all over the place.
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Why is this so important for the students?
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Is so important because it's it's giving them the necessary tools
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to be professional musicians in the music industry.
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So it's giving them the tools.
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They they not only know how to play their instruments and do it well.
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They're learning tons of repertoire.
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So, everything from Stevie Wonder to Bruno Mars to Ariana Grande,
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a, we do classic soul, funk, R&B
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and myself being a musician, that's still actively performing
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every week, multiple times every week.
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I understand what it takes to kind of be
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a professional musician and you have to wear many hats.
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It's it's.
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I tell my students it's not a straight line.
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Yeah. You know, being a musician.
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So, you could get a call to play for a pop group.
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I got a call to play for a Motown group in a couple of weeks.
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So, you never know what you're going to be playing, so I like to have my students
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be prepared to take those opportunities when they come along.
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So it's really giving them the tools to do that.
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But also the other side of the music business, being a professional
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and knowing how to book gigs, knowing when to show up,
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knowing how to run a rehearsal, knowing how to how to run sound.
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So we set up every day our, our PA system and our mics
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and everything, and all of the students have a hand in that.
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So they're getting a little bit
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of everything so that they're well-rounded when they get done.
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Yeah, it's it's one thing to be in the classroom
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or be in kind of a studio session at Ball State.
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It's another to go out and perform in a variety of different venues.
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I think that's awesome.
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This is a a hands on class, a hands on ensemble.
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So absolutely, absolutely.
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I noticed you in rehearsal.
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You have the biggest grin on your face.
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Talk to me about how you feel watching these students
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kind of gel as a band to improve as they go along.
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And really, I mean, I noticed just in this rehearsal, the the stage presence,
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the, the, the audience banter, I mean, they've got that stuff down.
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How does that make you feel as the director?
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I mean, it makes me feel great.
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You know, it's it's all about them at the end of the day.
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So to watch them kind of blossom into their own
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and to get better as the semester goes along and to watch
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their camaraderie between each other as well, is just it's a beautiful thing.
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(singing)
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(singing)
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(singing)
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(singing) We've got Elijah Neal
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and he is one of the vocalists with the studio band.
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Elijah, we just heard you perform
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some of the tunes that you're going to be performing out and about in concert.
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First of all, you sounded amazing.
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Thank you so much. I really appreciate.
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That.
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Tell me how you got involved with the Studio jazz band. Why?
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Was this something you wanted to be involved with?
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So when I originally came to Ball State campus as a vocal performance
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major and, granted, there are a lot of amazing staples
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in classical music, but that was all I was doing.
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And as a vocalist who grew up in church singing gospel, R&B, jazz, like,
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that's my base. Like, that's that's what I love to do.
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And so, at first I wasn't really well versed in the ensembles on campus.
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My first year, but second semester I got to see
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studio band perform at one of, like, the collective performances.
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And I was like, I have to get on stage and do it.
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And so at the beginning of my sophomore year, which is this year,
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first semester, I came and I auditioned, they let me in.
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And it's just been the most amazing experience getting to do
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the style of music that I've literally been craving to do Time out.
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So you, you.
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This is your first year with studio band?
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Oh my goodness.
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You seem like a veteran. You seem like you were.
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I thought you were going to say, oh, I'm a senior
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and I've been with the studio, I’m only 20.
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I’m only 20. My goodness.
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What is your favorite part about being in studio band?
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All in all, just the creative space to create like I it
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it is so healing to be able to do a style of music,
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built by vets who created it for people like me.
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So I just like it is it is such an amazing experience
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to get to do that,
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with like minded people who also just love to jam out professionally.
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And it's really, it's really fun. Yeah.
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How important is that as a student to be able to get these experiences real?
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Like you said, real professional experiences while you're still in class?
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Absolutely.
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So yeah, like with class, like, oh, class is so like stressor.
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And granted, I am very grateful for the opportunity.
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I'm also a first gen student,
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so I'm very grateful to be here representing my family.
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In my hometown. Gary, Indiana.
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Go G.
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But, Studio band is my destresser.
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It's my.
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It's my time to relax and create and make music and,
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kind of build this and practice portfolio that I'm going to be putting out
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by the time I'm an upperclassman and wanting to do internships and crazy
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other places and stuff.
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So. Yeah. Absolutely.
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So as you look through, because the band has quite a repertoire
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as you look through there, what are some of your favorites on the list?
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I for me personally, one of my favorite songs to sing is Say Yes by Floetry.
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It is a very just like sensual, fun song.
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And, I personally don't get to sing in my falsetto much.
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So I get to kind of unlock this more like feminine sultry side to when I sing.
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And I just love that song so much.
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She's crazy.
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She like moans, like in the song.
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Like, yeah, she goes crazy.
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But my favorite song, like, to hear a song is Pretty Wings.
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Luke sings that song.
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He's the other male vocalist in our group, and he just.
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Oh, his voice is like.
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It's literally it melts, I melt.
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I know every time he opens his mouth.
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So yeah, pretty wings when he sings that, I'm just in awe. Wow.
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Now, since you you just joined studio band, do you, understand?
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Can you comprehend how huge it is that you.
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The band is playing at the Jazz Kitchen.
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I so I've had like, I my mom is a singer.
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That's where I get my little quirk from.
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Yeah.
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And her sisters are performers, and they know artists
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that have gone to jazz band, because they're based in Ohio.
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So they're, you know, artists that have performed in jazz band.
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So when I told them their first. Yes.
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That's right. Thank you.
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Jazz Kitchen.
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And like,
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they were just, like, completely geeked for me.
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Like, I tell my parents, not to, like, travel out three hours from where it's
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I go.
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But they were like, we are on it.
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We bought tickets. Like, I'm so excited.
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No. Yes.
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I've like, I've been in the practice room almost every day, like I'm.
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I cannot forget a lyric.
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I cannot miss a beat like, this is this is, it's
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this is one of the biggest, like, performances that I'll be doing.
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Like, yeah, well, I think we're going to see you a lot
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in the coming months in studio band and then beyond.
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I look forward to see what you do.
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Post studio band, because I'm telling you what, it's amazing.
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Thank you guys so much.
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(singing)
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You’re my lady.
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You’re my lady.
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You’re my lady.
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How do students get involved with a studio band?
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Is it an audition situation?
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So studio band is, audition based ensemble.
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We normally hold auditions, the first week of the semester in the fall.
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So we've had, quite a few students audition,
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me and my colleague doctor Thompson.
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We, we sit through many hours of listening to the different
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instrumentalists and vocalists come through and audition,
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and then we kind of narrow it down and we make the group from there.
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We normally have five vocalists,
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three horns, two drummers who trade off one plays
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drums, one plays percussion, two guitars, bass and keys.
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That's awesome.
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Do you hear from graduates, that are still doing it,
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you know, and about their experiences they had with studio.
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Band and that's a that's a good point to bring up.
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We do hear from from graduates and alumni,
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and we have, alumni of the program.
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Kambria Moncrief.
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She's coming back to perform with us at the Jazz Kitchen.
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She's going to be our guest artist. So she was a student here.
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She's a graduate of the MMP program, and she was in studio band
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when it first started.
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She's one of the founding members.
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And so, yes, it's going to be great to have her come back
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and see how it's it's grown since she's been away and graduated.
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That's so it's going to be wonderful to have her come back.
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Yeah, it's kind of a full circle.
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You can't have a better testimonial than that.
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Somebody actually moving on doing that and then some.
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And how wonderful that she wants to come back.
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And share still share her talents.
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In case people are not aware, tell them why the Jazz Kitchen
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is such a huge thing for this group to be able to perform.
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This is the place where all of the jazz R&B
23:18
greats perform on a regular basis, and you are on the calendar.
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Yeah.
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So The Jazz Kitchen is the premier jazz venue in Indianapolis.
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And, I mean, I've seen so many world class,
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Grammy winning artists graced that stage, so it's really special for us to be able
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to do the same thing and especially for the students, you know,
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a lot of the gigs we've played, it's their first time
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like performing outside of a school environment.
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So to go straight to like the Jazz Kitchen.
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That's like zero is 60 in like 2 seconds.
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It's a really cool thing.
23:58
And you know, the jazz Kitchen, the everybody,
24:00
the staff, David Ali the owner, they're they're all great people.
24:04
Very much involved in uplifting the musicians
24:07
in the community in Indianapolis.
24:08
So that that's a wonderful thing as well.
24:11
Well, congratulations on the success of Studio band.
24:14
We look forward to seeing you out in the community.
24:17
Absolutely. Thank you so much.
24:19
(singing)
24:22
You’re
24:25
my lady.
24:33
You. Oh oh, hey hey hey.
24:38
You're
24:42
my lady.
24:45
Oh 000. Oh.
24:57
Oh. That interview was from season two, episode eight.
25:02
In 2025.
25:11
This is pop of culture.
25:13
I'm Michel Kinsey, and I'm Kara Duquette.
25:16
The pop team took the week off after last week's 100th episode live celebration.
25:21
So we're looking back over the last 100
25:25
episodes to some of our favorite pop moments.
25:28
And speaking of celebrations, the Academy of Model Aeronautics
25:31
is celebrating its 90th year with its annual National Fun Fly.
25:36
June 25th through the 28th.
25:39
Our producer, Luke Jones, spoke to the directors of the event back in season one.
25:45
Hi Luke, I'm Steve Haston,
25:47
I'm the director of the foundation here at the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
25:52
I'm Rachel Haughn, Academy of Model
25:55
Aeronautics Foundation donor program specialist.
25:58
And I'm Kyle Jaracz.
26:00
I'm the education director here at the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
26:03
Excellent.
26:04
And we've got you all here
26:05
to talk about this national Fun Fly event that is this coming weekend.
26:09
But before then, some folks might not be aware that the Academy of Model
26:15
Aeronautics, known as the AMA, is actually headquartered in Muncie.
26:20
Can you talk a little bit
26:21
about what the organization is and what the connection to Muncie is?
26:25
Yeah, certainly. So, Kyle Jaracz here.
26:28
The AMA has been around as an organization actually, since 1936.
26:33
And what we focus on are pretty much anything
26:37
that flies, that doesn't have a human inside of it.
26:40
That's our bread and butter.
26:42
It's what we enjoy doing.
26:43
And we do that as a hobby.
26:46
We also have lots of different sporting elements to go along with that.
26:50
And then even potential careers that utilize
26:53
those kinds of aircraft in the national airspace.
26:56
And, as part of that goes, you know,
26:59
we work very closely with organizations like the FAA.
27:03
The Federal Aviation Administration, for those who might not know, as well
27:07
as lots of other partner organizations like NASA, who you've probably heard of,
27:12
the EAA Experimental Aircraft Association and several others,
27:17
to really celebrate flight and the opportunities to enjoy, aviation.
27:23
Nice.
27:24
So what exactly do you do at your headquarters in Muncie?
27:27
And I know there's also the museum attached. What?
27:30
Not attached, but within the same general area.
27:33
So I will tell you, when Amy was founded,
27:36
it was actually founded in, Washington, DC.
27:40
And then it later
27:41
moved to Reston, Virginia, and then in the early 1990s and moved here
27:45
to Muncie, Indiana, out here by the bypass on East Memorial Drive.
27:50
And they moved us out here because they thought
27:52
it would be a good centralized location for our members.
27:55
We have members all over the country and also in some foreign countries,
27:59
and they felt like this is a good property and a good space for them
28:02
to all kind of meet together to fly together.
28:04
Here we do all kinds of different things.
28:08
We have our foundation here.
28:09
Of course we have education department here.
28:12
We have a membership department.
28:14
We had, about 195,000 members.
28:18
We have a publications, department that produces a monthly magazine,
28:22
a print magazine, and a digital magazine that goes out every month.
28:27
We also have a government relations, department or government
28:30
affairs department that is often in Washington,
28:34
D.C., meeting with officials there who make decisions, basically,
28:39
and rules about model aviation and other unmanned or uncrewed aircraft.
28:44
And then also across across the drive here we have the national model
28:48
Aviation Museum that has thousands of artifacts.
28:52
I've been told
28:52
the first artifact dates back before the Wright brothers first flight.
28:57
So it's pretty, pretty old.
28:59
We have, in addition to airplanes and propellers
29:03
and motors and engines, we also have a whole library.
29:07
Model aviation resources that people can come
29:10
and visit and and get photocopies of and read through.
29:14
In other words, there's a lot to see.
29:16
Yeah, actually come out and visit.
29:19
And, you know, that's kind of what we're here to talk about,
29:21
which is the upcoming national Fun Fly for the community.
29:24
And we're really excited about that event. Yeah.
29:27
Perfect segue, Kyle, tell us all about it.
29:30
What is happening?
29:31
What is there like to experience this weekend?
29:35
Yeah, Luke, this is Steve.
29:36
And, yeah, we're very excited about the National Fun Fly.
29:40
This is a, annual event that we host out here at the AMA.
29:43
And this year, our 1100 acres are open to the public.
29:47
It's a community event, and it's really designed
29:50
to inspire the youth and the other folks in the community
29:56
all about, aviation and other Stem avenues.
30:00
As Kyle mentioned, many of these folks
30:04
move into career paths that, have shaped
30:07
the entire face of aviation and space flight across the world.
30:12
So now this year, at the front of the Academy of Model Aeronautics,
30:18
we will have a, RC boating happening on our pond.
30:23
We have a speaker series where we have women in aviation coming in,
30:27
and we have some other professors who will talk to visitors about Stem
30:33
and how aviation impacts, you know, the youth and,
30:37
and, in the future, we also have drone demonstrations
30:42
and we have drone racing league will be at the museum site as well.
30:47
And then from there as you move back
30:50
to, our site, what we call site one
30:55
will have RC, aircraft and that is, we call it buddy boxing.
31:00
But a, a person, anybody, a youth or an adult can take control
31:04
of an airplane and actually fly it, in the comfort of a pilot's hands.
31:09
Who can take control if something, something were to go on.
31:14
That sounds like the kind of flying I would need to do.
31:19
Well, I mean, the idea is to to take away
31:20
some of the stress that's associated with learning to fly model aircraft
31:24
and also just trying out, ground vehicles,
31:28
RC boats, as you mentioned,
31:30
there's going to be, rocketry happening on site, as well as free
31:33
flight models to both build for youth and then participate with fly enjoy.
31:38
And I don't know if we've mentioned this yet,
31:41
but free of charge, make absolutely no charge for community
31:44
members like we want to celebrate aviation and,
31:48
we see ourselves as a great channel, for those aviation, whether that'll be
31:53
the hobby, the sporting elements or and future career in aviation.
31:56
So yeah.
31:58
And on that, for the folks who are coming, who aren’t AMA members
32:03
or maybe are fans of actual, you know, passenger planes, what do you hope
32:07
that they learn when they’re at national fun fly this weekend?
32:12
I hope, number one, that they have fun and relax and enjoy themselves.
32:17
That's my hope.
32:18
But I also want them to see the connection
32:21
between the hobby and Full-Scale aviation.
32:23
We have some members who are astronauts, who work for NASA,
32:27
who designed aircraft to fly, fly on Mars.
32:31
I mean that everything in the hobby is related basically to something full scale.
32:36
So I want them to see that.
32:38
And the fact that if they started in model aviation, that might to lead
32:41
to some kind of career in aviation, aeronautics or engineering.
32:46
I love that answer.
32:48
What about you, Steve?
32:50
What do you hope for?
32:51
I want the parents to see that
32:54
by supporting their kiddos that, there's a tremendous
32:58
number of opportunities in it, and it's, it's a hobby and a sport
33:01
that can lead them into, you know, hands on experiences
33:06
and get away a little bit from, you know, that every day.
33:10
Drudgery being on a device, things like that.
33:14
Yeah. I really love that. It's.
33:16
I hadn't thought of this.
33:17
It's a tangible way for youth to see an opportunity in a Stem field.
33:23
They can. They can touch it. They can feel it.
33:25
They can see something fly or motorboat on a pond,
33:29
and it can spark that enthusiasm.
33:32
Definitely.
33:33
And that's really what we're here to do is, spark that creativity
33:37
in that imagination and, and do so in a way that's accessible.
33:41
You know,
33:42
you don't have to spend tens of thousands of dollars
33:45
and get your private pilot license and start there.
33:47
You know, there's there's easier ways to access the skies.
33:51
Wonderful.
33:52
All right.
33:53
Let's get the event details down.
33:54
I know it's this weekend.
33:56
Friday the 28th through Sunday the 30th.
33:59
When and where can people come out and find you.
34:03
Yeah.
34:03
So, the event is the three day,
34:06
the main community event for, local folks is on Saturday,
34:12
June 29th, and we're going to have the property open from 8 a.m.
34:17
to 5 p.m..
34:19
The entire 1100 acres and events that all all those sites.
34:24
And as Kyle said, it's free of charge.
34:27
We're going to have, shuttles with free transportation across the site.
34:31
So if you need to go from one activity to another,
34:34
you're welcome to hop on one of our shuttles.
34:36
And if I jump in really quick and if you go to model
34:40
aircraft.org/funfly,
34:44
that should get you to our website where you can read all about
34:47
the different activities that are happening.
34:48
We've barely scratched the surface.
34:50
And it's just it's this is truly going to be a celebration of all things aviation.
35:02
We spoke to Kyle,
35:03
Rachel and Steve in season one, episode 22.
35:07
If you're a recent listener of pop culture, you can find
35:11
all of our previous seasons on the NPR app,
35:14
YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, and Indiana Public Radio.org.
35:21
We are everywhere.
35:30
I'm Kara Duquette and I'm Michelle Kinsey.
35:33
Instead of our usual what are you working on segment,
35:36
we're looking back at an essay by H.K.
35:39
Hummel from season two, episode 23,
35:42
for this week's Beautiful Things.
35:45
Today we have a visit with writer H.K.
35:48
Hummel as part of our ongoing series of micro essays entitled Beautiful Things.
35:55
HK is joining us from Little Rock, Arkansas.
35:58
Is that correct?
36:00
Yes, I am, thank you for having me.
36:02
We're we're happy to to be here with you today and HK is going to share with us
36:08
your Beautiful Thing entitled
36:11
It Seemed Like Everything Was Still Before Us.
36:16
It seemed like
36:16
everything was still before us.
36:20
I crack an egg against the edge of the bowl
36:24
while thinking about the bistro I worked in when I was nineteen.
36:29
I wore corduroy pants,
36:31
Doc Marten Mary Janes,
36:34
and hand-sewn peasant blouses.
36:37
I wrote poems on the order pad
36:39
I kept tucked in my apron.
36:43
I liked stepping out into the hot night
36:46
and bicycling home under the streetlights.
36:50
While students loitered over their books at the cafe tables,
36:54
a boy named Adam taught me how to spin the batter on the griddle.
37:00
While I practiced, he slouched against the counter
37:03
and talked about his role in A Streetcar Named Desire.
37:08
For weeks, I spun crepes in my dreams.
37:12
I perfected the flip and fold,
37:16
learned the menu on the sly, neatly plated the coq au vin blanc.
37:22
The manager
37:23
discovered what I could do, and made me a cook.
37:26
That spring, the restaurant clamored with life:
37:31
ruddy cheeked Joe sang madrigals as he wiped counters.
37:36
Olivia, a punk with hair as black as motor
37:39
oil, would snort and roll her smoky eyes at the boys.
37:45
Everyone had someone to be.
37:48
Now, I slide a crepe in front of my daughter
37:53
and remember a dawn morning sugared with the scent of pastry
37:58
and a single kiss.
38:00
There was something simple about the way we lived:
38:04
if we were hungry, we ate.
38:08
If we wanted something sweeter,
38:12
we made it sweeter.
38:14
That was.
38:15
It seemed like everything was still before us.
38:18
H.K., thank you so much. That is lovely.
38:21
What a lovely piece of remembrance and capturing a moment in time.
38:28
Can you tell us? Yeah.
38:29
Can you tell us what inspired this piece?
38:33
This essay is based on,
38:35
just a one spring, when I was young,
38:38
I think I was, 19 or 20,
38:43
and I think it was, you know, sort of maybe both springs mushed into one and.
38:48
Yeah.
38:49
And that is an age definitely isn't it.
38:52
But yeah.
38:54
So I was just thinking about who I was then
38:57
and how it's not so different from who I am now.
39:00
But also quite different in some ways.
39:03
Yeah.
39:04
And that all of us contain both who we are now and who we were then.
39:09
Right? Yes, absolutely.
39:12
There's a the line that really, jumps out at me and sort of, you know, causes that
39:17
that lovely punch in the gut for me
39:20
is everyone had someone to be.
39:24
Right? It's not the usual thing we hear.
39:26
Everyone had somewhere to be.
39:28
This is everyone had someone to be. Right.
39:30
So this idea of thinking about our future selves
39:35
and who we think we're going to be, who we want to be, and how that
39:41
then infuses our remembrance.
39:44
Right. Definitely.
39:47
I think what also was just amazing was that,
39:50
you know, we all were so,
39:54
emphatically ourselves.
39:56
And I knew it at the time and I can still see it
40:00
now just how much we had.
40:04
It just embraced who we were, even if it was only,
40:08
you know, having a glimmer of what that the potential for that was like.
40:12
We were we were completely and utterly ourselves.
40:16
And that was wonderful.
40:19
Yeah.
40:20
The imagery in particular of the Doc Martin, Mary Jane's, the hand-sewn
40:24
peasant blouses, and then your friend
40:28
Olivia, who was punk rock.
40:31
And. I, I thought actually specifically of people
40:34
I knew back then, very similar as well as my own self,
40:40
sort of in that that mélange of of expression.
40:43
Right.
40:44
Figuring out who you are through not only the people you're with,
40:47
but also some of the choices you make in your life.
40:52
Yeah.
40:53
Yeah.
40:54
I, I also love the, the idea that you are
40:58
sharing this with your daughter.
41:01
Right.
41:01
As you make a crepe, as you put it
41:05
in front of, of her and think about who you were then.
41:09
That also resonates with me deeply as a parent.
41:13
Right.
41:13
The, the, the sort of strange combination of wanting your, your kids
41:18
to see you as a parent, but also the fact that you're a human being.
41:24
Right.
41:26
Well, I think the funny thing was, I'm sure that that particular breakfast
41:29
was unremarkable.
41:32
(Right? Yeah.) Normal.
41:34
Normal breakfast.
41:36
But in my mind, you know, my mind was going well, sort of time traveling.
41:41
As I was making breakfast.
41:43
Yeah.
41:44
And that's just perfectly captured in this, in this essay, in the short essay
41:48
with a beautiful specificity, and a just a moment in time, which is great.
41:53
Do you know about anything that happens to
41:56
any of these folks that you spent time with those springs? No,
42:01
I wish I did.
42:02
Yeah, it's a long time ago, so I've lost contact with all of them.
42:07
Of course. Yeah. And I think about that too.
42:09
A lot of, of, you know, the travels that I had as,
42:13
early, you know, in my early 20s.
42:15
And a lot of the peoples I encountered, I encountered a lot of the folks
42:18
I encountered.
42:19
And in this time, it's what's so interesting is we
42:22
it's it's much easier to keep in touch with people.
42:25
Right.
42:26
And I know that my own kids, for example, are in touch
42:31
with so many different people that they've met over the course of their lives.
42:34
And I'm, I'm curious how that is going to evolve for them as they get older.
42:40
It's a really interesting question.
42:42
Yeah, I think that's, partly
42:45
just so generational, but, you know, like,
42:50
you know, I didn't have a cell phone when I was in college,
42:53
and I had barely had email at that time.
42:57
Right.
42:58
And so it was just a completely different sort of reality.
43:03
I think.
43:05
Yeah.
43:05
Well, what a gorgeous way to spend some time
43:10
thinking about this moment in your life and how it it,
43:14
I think, inspires all of our listeners to,
43:18
think about times when it might have been, as you say, unremarkable.
43:23
But really, those moments, as they come together to form
43:26
a life, are what are in fact, remarkable.
43:29
Absolutely.
43:30
Thank you so much. Oh, thank you, H.K.
43:33
I so much appreciate your time with us today
43:37
and your beautiful thing.
43:39
H.K. Hummel is a writer in Little Rock,
43:43
the author of Lessons in Breathing Underwater
43:47
and the forthcoming second edition of Short Form Creative Writing.
43:52
And we're so grateful for your time today.
43:55
Thank you.
44:15
Michelle, are you ready for our favorite part?
44:17
The arts calendar. Let's do it. Okay.
44:21
The Anderson Symphony Orchestra will present Divas of Pop
44:24
and Soul Saturday, March 28th at the Paramount Theater.
44:28
This evening will celebrate the legendary women who shaped
44:31
the worlds of pop, soul and R&B,
44:34
featuring the music of Whitney Houston, Tina Turner and other iconic artists.
44:39
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
44:41
and will feature special guest vocalist Cierra Harper.
44:45
Our Town opens this weekend at Gyer Opera House in Lewisville.
44:49
Our Town is a Pulitzer Prize winning 1938 play by Thornton Wilder
44:53
that depicts life in the fictional small American town of Grover's Corners.
44:58
It's an exploration of love, friendship and the beauty in ordinary life.
45:03
Gyer opera house.com has more info.
45:06
The West Wind continues its run at Muncie's Civic Theater
45:10
this weekend, the final show on Sunday, March 29th.
45:13
This is an original play written by Muncie residents John and Jenni
45:17
Marsh that rides the rails across turn of the century America.
45:21
Muncie civic.org has details.
45:24
The John Beatrice Band will celebrate the 10th anniversary of John's album
45:29
Farmland Famous Friday, March 27th at the Farmland Community Center.
45:34
The music begins at 7 p.m.
45:36
Also on Friday, March 27th at Roho’s in downtown Muncie.
45:40
You can hear Alfie Jean and Fella Jack perform beginning at 7 p.m.
45:44
Andrew Tee will be there Saturday night.
45:47
New Castle’s Twin Lions Wine Bar will present an uncorked comedy night at 6 p.m.
45:52
Saturday, March 28th.
45:54
And The Fierce - full disclosure, Michelle is a member of the band -
45:58
with special guest K Dog will perform at 7 p.m.
46:01
at Room Five Piano Bar in Muncie.
46:03
On Saturday, March 28th, The David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State
46:07
will host a community chat about the book Bite by Bite: Nourishment and Jamborees.
46:14
It's part of Muncie Public Library's Big Read effort, which encourages
46:17
communities to come together
46:19
through the shared experience of reading and discussing a great book.
46:23
The conversation will begin at 2:30 p.m..
46:26
Learn more about Big Read and how to pick up your own
46:28
copy of Bite by Bite at Muncie Public Library.org.
46:33
Minnetrista Museum and Gardens is offering a Ukrainian egg
46:37
dyeing workshop at 1 p.m.
46:38
Saturday, March 28th.
46:40
Join Carol Powers to learn the centuries old
46:43
art of Ukrainian wax resist egg dyeing.
46:46
Bob Dylan will bring his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour to Emens
46:50
Auditorium at Ball State on Tuesday, March 31st.
46:53
And yes, that Bob Dylan.
46:56
The concert begins at 8 p.m.
46:58
Thursday, April 2nd, is the first Thursday in Muncie.
47:01
Look for new exhibits, browse downtown shops, catch some original music and more.
47:06
Between 5 and 8 p.m..
47:08
Our own Maya Doss will be the featured artist in the Muncie
47:11
Civic Theater lobby, hosted by the Muncie Arts and Culture Council.
47:16
And next Saturday, April 4th, is the Magic City SIP and Savor
47:19
event at MadJax in Muncie.
47:21
The event will include tasty beverages, makers, music, food, and much more.
47:25
Send your arts and culture events to us at Indiana Public radio.org slash.
47:30
Contact. Then click. Pop of culture.
47:37
Support for pop of
47:38
culture comes from Stallings Wealth Management and from you.
47:44
With state and federal money eliminated, you are the difference
47:48
in keeping local programing on the air at IPR.
47:53
Become a member today at Indiana Public radio.org.
47:57
And that's our show.
47:59
Our fact checker and ethics curator is Stephanie Wiechmann.
48:02
This week was produced by Andrew Montavon, who thought it would be a good idea
48:07
to give Luke a break after every 100th episode.
48:11
Don't worry, we still had production assistant and plenty of exchanged emails
48:15
from Luke Jones.
48:16
Our audio fellow is Maya Doss and our show was hosted
48:20
by me, Kara Duquette and me, Michelle Kinsey.
48:23
Pop of culture is a production from IPR on the campus of Ball State University.